


As Silent as the Dead

by lal nila syrin (lalnilasyrin)



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Trauma, Gen, Mute - Freeform, Mute Danny, Mute!Danny, Muteness, Mutism, Sign Language, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-03-17
Packaged: 2018-03-19 23:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3627693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lalnilasyrin/pseuds/lal%20nila%20syrin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny Fenton was the local mute kid... who just happened to have ghost powers. He uses them to protect, but sometimes he finds he's as scared of himself as he is of his enemies. And when a certain ghostly psychologist comes around, he realizes exactly why he fights in spite of it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Silent as the Dead

**Author's Note:**

> 3/17/2015:  
> This fic has been a long time coming, and I got a bit stuck on my inspiration for my other fics, so I decided to work on this instead. I omitted a lot of details from the episode I borrowed from (My Brother’s Keeper), s-so I hope it’s not too skippy…
> 
> Mute!Danny AU of my own interpretation~ (Well, it’s more selective mute, but the idea is still there). Please enjoy this, as it comes from very close to home.
> 
> 3/27/2015:  
> I posted this last week on Tumblr and while it didn't get too much attention at first, [kikaiz](http://kikaiz.tumblr.com) illustrated it (and I posted the illustration here with permission) and suddenly I got a LOT of attention for it, a-and that made me very happy! The response I got was so overwhelmingly positive, I'm still blown away by it all. As of current, it has 273 notes, which is probably the best any one single fic I've ever posted has ever done. (Not counting AFP of course.) I hope the response will be just as positive here, even if I've posted it so late in comparison.
> 
> Thank you very much, everyone!  
> ~Nila

Danny Fenton was an average, plain, unnoticeable fourteen-year-old just trying to get through ninth grade. He didn’t stand out much with his black hair or blue eyes—he was a bit small and scrawny, and normally someone of his stature would have been picked on by countless bullies…

Except that he never was, and that was because apparently, according to some unwritten bully code, disabled kids were off limits.

Danny narrowed his eyes at that thought, though, as he stepped between Casper High’s star football player Dash Baxter and one of the smaller nerds, Mikey, to prevent the former from laying a hand on the latter. He would take a beating for the other “nerds” and “geeks” any day, he told himself as he stared defiantly up into Dash’s eyes, because even with the “disabled” label he was still more durable than them.

“Hey! Out of the way, Fenturd!” Dash growled, “I owe Mikey a knuckle sandwich! So scram and mind your own business!”

Danny remained where he was, motioning behind his back to the bespectacled boy, who took the signal and ran off, dashing around the corner. The black-haired boy crossed his arms, lifting an eyebrow at the blonde bully, as if daring him to try getting past him.

“I swear, ya dumb mute, get out of the way or I’ll wail on you instead!”

Danny continued giving him a deadpan stare, beckoning one hand in challenge—he didn’t need to waste signs on the dumb jock, but the universal “come on!” gesture was enough to get his message across. Dash turned red in the face, fuming from the ears, and raised his fist angrily… only to flinch as Danny’s friends came up behind him with heated glares.

“Gee, what’ll the gossip column say tomorrow,” drawled Sam Manson, his ever iron-willed and silver-tongued friend. She crossed her arms, continuing smugly, “Football quarterback beats up local mute kid! I wonder how that’ll look in a portfolio?”

“Go away, Dash,” Tucker Foley, his other best friend, rolled his eyes, putting his hand on Danny’s shoulder. Danny glanced over at the African American and saw concern in his expression, so he made a sign with one hand to let the boy know he was okay. Tucker nodded in satisfaction, turning his gaze back to Dash. “Face it, Danny’s got too many eyes on him for this to go unnoticed.”

Dash glared and huffed, and he shoved Tucker out of the way as he marched past, grumbling under his breath.

“You okay, Danny?” Sam asked her friend, who nodded in return, so her shoulders relaxed significantly. “Sorry about pulling the mute card, I know you hate it.”

Danny shrugged in acceptance of the apology, motioning with his hands.  _“Hey, it works. Let’s just get our stuff and go home.”_

“What were you thinking, man? Were you  _trying_  to get beat up by Dash?” Tucker asked as they made their way to their lockers. He watched Danny’s hands for a minute as he made his reply, and he frowned at the answer.

“What? What’d he say?” Sam asked, her eyebrows furrowing. She wasn’t as fluent in sign language as Tucker yet, having only started learning the previous year.

“He said, ‘I was, at least then it will explain some of the bruises I’m getting from hunting’.” Tucker shook his head, waiting as Danny fiddled with his locker. “Dude, just… be more careful out there, then.”

Danny paused to make a few signs before going back to working his lock.

“I know you can’t keep saying you were clumsy, that’s why I said be more careful.” Tucker rolled his eyes.

Sam sighed as she watched the two, wishing she could understand Danny’s half of the conversation. It wasn’t hard to guess, but still…

Danny finally opened his locker, grabbing his backpack and stuffing his books in it before slamming it shut and replacing the lock. He motioned for his friends to follow him, and together the three headed toward the front entrance.

And as soon as they got there, a puff of mist escaped Danny’s lips, and he sighed heavily.

He made an exasperated sign which Sam had begun to understand meant,  _“I wonder who it is this time.”_

And then, without needing a signal, Tucker and Sam stepped closer together in front of the bush Danny dove behind, a muffled flash of light at their feet being the only sign that Danny had transformed.

They looked up as their friend and resident ghostly superhero took to the skies, a black and white streak shooting over the school and toward the football field. The two friends exchanged a look before nodding and running for the back of the school, just in case Danny needed their help.

They got there just in time to see Danny shooting an electric green ecto-ray at Johnny 13.

The gray-skinned ghost hit the gas, the tires screeching loudly as he got out of the way just in time. “Uhg, it’s you!” Kitty, the green-haired ghost riding behind him, glowered up at the ghost boy.

“Come on, we’re just trying to have some fun!” Johnny whined, maneuvering out of the way as Danny came diving in for a punch. They did a sharp turn and Danny hit the dirt, chunks of fake grass flying everywhere. “We weren’t even causing any trouble!”

Danny narrowed his eyes, looking toward the empty bleachers and abandoned football equipment, left behind by the fleeing team members and spectators. He glared pointedly at the pair, lifting an eyebrow disbelievingly.

“Johnny, get us out of here!” Kitty hissed, tightening her arms around his waist.

“Yeah, you got it babe,” Johnny turned his motorcycle, pointing with one hand, “Shadow! Keep him busy!”

The dark shape beneath them came to life, lunging at Danny with a malicious grin.

Danny flinched, but he quickly composed himself, flying out of the way and shooting it with an ecto-blast. He was propelled backward by a few more, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Kitty and Johnny about to make their escape, so he threw out his hand and blasted the ground in front of them, causing them to come to a screeching halt and nearly flip over.

“Yeek!” Kitty shrieked as she tumbled off the motorcycle, rubbing her head with a hiss of pain. She screamed again when, in the moment of confusion, Danny had managed to lead Shadow over and turn up at the last minute so the formless black creature crashed into her instead of catching him.

“Kitty!” Johnny yelled, scrambling to his feet with his fists clenched as he faced the ghost boy, frowning. “Look man, why don’t ya just leave us alone and we’ll get out of your hair! We’ll go somewhere else to have fun—”

He stopped when Danny aimed his thermos at him, his eyes half-lidded in a slightly angry expression, clearly conveying he didn’t approve of the ghosts escaping outside of Amity Park. A determined light shone in his bright green eyes, giving off a distinct feeling of,  _“I’ll stop you no matter what!”_

Johnny grinned nervously. “…No? Okay then—Shadow, attack!”

Danny shifted the focus of the thermos at the last second, and when the bad luck ghost lunged again he hit the suction button. The thing screeched as it was engulfed by the light, too close to even have time to dodge. Johnny gulped as he grabbed Kitty, kicking his motorcycle up and getting on, hoping to scram before—

The feeling of being pulled under by ocean waves tugged at his back, and then suddenly, like the harsh current of a whirlpool, everything was spinning.

“Oh sh—”

Danny capped the thermos with a satisfied smile. He looked around again, making sure the cost was clear. He only spotted Sam and Tucker coming out from behind the building, and he grinned and waved at them, deeming it safe to undo his transformation.

“At least the damage from Johnny’s Shadow wasn’t so bad this time,” Tucker commented with a chuckle, looking around to assess said damage. “So, Nasty Burger?”

Danny gave a lopsided smile, holding up the thermos. He tucked it into the crook of his arm as he began signing,  _“Probably not today—I caught a lot of ghosts, so I should go put them back in the Ghost Zone soon.”_

“Ah, right. Then let’s go to your place and mooch off your food,” Tucker punched his arm playfully, “Got any of those smoothies we like?”

Danny rolled his eyes, making a sound like a chortle.  _“Of course.”_

~~~

“You got caught by him?” Ember lifted an eyebrow when she saw Kitty and Johnny upon their return to the Ghost Zone.

“Yeah,” Kitty rubbed her head, frowning as she tried to fix her hair. “Uhg, that kid is so creepy! He gives me the shivers!”

“He’s one heck of a weird ghost,” Johnny muttered, kicking the air beneath him—Shadow made a disgruntled sound at that. “I mean, I get territorial, but he’s way more obsessive than the rest of us, even for someone so young!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him around the Ghost Zone…” Ember tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Was he formed after I left to go on my tour in the Real World?”

“Not sure… actually, I don’t think anyone knows where he comes from,” Kitty folded her arms around herself, rubbing her elbows uncomfortably, “but there’s something about the way he never talks that’s really scary for some reason.”

“It’s the eyes,” Johnny nodded in agreement, “His eyes say a lot, even for dead ones. Or recently-dead ones.”

Ember hummed in response, looking thoughtful. She tilted her head after a moment, realizing something.

“…Do we even know his name?”

~~~

 _“Why is it so cold around here…?”_  Sam frowned, rubbing her arms to keep warm. The temperature was so chilling she could see her breath when she exhaled, the wisp of mist passing her vision in the same way Danny’s ghost sense would.

She and Tucker were waiting out in the hallway, idly practicing signs to each other while keeping an eye out for their friend. His sister, Jazz, had dragged him off somewhere after school, and Danny hadn’t exactly been in a good mood when the carrot-top had grabbed him, since he had been in a ghost fight just before and the ghost had gotten away.

 _“I think I heard,”_  Tucker signed slowly so Sam could take her time digesting the symbols,  _“that the new guidance counselor liked it cold for some reason. Something about sharp minds.”_

 _“What was that word after new?”_  Sam blinked, trying to figure out from the context clues.

“Guidance counselor, or whatever you wanna call it,” Tucker said out loud, then signed,  _“It sounds like a load of bull though.”_

Sam snorted, grinning. She looked up when she heard stomping footsteps though, and a look of alarm crossed her expression when she spotted Danny’s angry expression.

“You okay?” Sam asked immediately, moving to follow him. Tucker flanked his other side.

 _“They think I destroyed a classroom. It was that ghost!”_  Danny moved his hands aggressively, practically jabbing his signs at them,  _“And now I’m going to be punished somehow for that mess!”_

“It’ll be okay—if it’s just cleaning up that classroom or something, we can help you,” Tucker offered, “I mean, you probably won’t get anything too bad.”

Danny sighed, running his hand through his hair.  _“Whatever, let’s get to class. We’ve got a rogue ghost to find after school, I just want to get this day over with.”_

“Don’t worry so much about it,” Sam patted his arm reassuringly, “We’ll help you out too.”

Danny nodded, taking a deep breath to calm himself, and when he did, he shot his friends a grateful smile.  _“Thanks.”_

~~~

Sam and Tucker looked through the Fenton’s research carefully, trying to find any info on the shapeshifting ghost Danny had yet to find again. Danny was upstairs distracting his family, Tucker was looking through and copying anything he could find on the Fentons’ lab computer, and Sam was looking through their physical documents and file cabinets.

Sam peeked up at the portal on the back wall, the octagonal indent shielded by doors painted with warning yellow and black stripes. Honestly, looking back now, she could have never imagined how much that thing would have changed all of their lives—not just Danny’s, not just Sam and Tucker’s, not just the Fenton’s, but all of Amity Park.

The Fentons had always believed ghosts existed—the rest of the town thought they were nutcases all the way up until the day they opened the Ghost Portal and the attacks started. The whole town was suddenly turning to the Fentons’ expertise, and while they knew how to make and use weapons to fight the ghosts, they weren’t entirely aware that their portal was the cause of the frequent attacks to begin with.

They weren’t even sure of how it was turned on. They had passed off its activation as a delay in the current, because they had plugged it in and seen it in darkness, walking away only to come back later and see it swirling with raw green energy.

But Sam knew the truth, and the memory of that day was seared into her brain with haunting clarity. She could never and would never forget it—after all, how could she forget the day her best friend nearly died?

How could Sam forget the day she had heard Danny’s voice for the first time?

The terrible, heart-wrenching scream that promised pain and suffering and death had never left her dreams.

She had never known Danny had had a voice before that day—she had always thought he was born mute, and he had never spoken a word since the day they met. She remembered being in eighth grade and walking up to him to introduce herself, despite her parents’ protests to stay away from the crazy ghost hunting couple’s kid—Tucker had introduced Danny to her in words, explaining that he didn’t speak, and Sam had just assumed that he had always been like that. Everyone else had done the same, and no one had corrected them.

After that day, Tucker had to explain the truth to her. Danny and Tucker had been friends since they were eight, after all, and Tucker had once known a Danny who wouldn’t shut up. But something had happened to Danny that same year—no one knew what—and suddenly he had stopped talking. Tucker didn’t understand it back then, but he never questioned it—he simply learned sign language alongside his friend, and growing up, it was their special secret code.

Apparently, Sam learned, Danny did occasionally speak—but only with his family and Tucker, people he absolutely trusted. Sam didn’t blame him for not trusting her, they had only known each other for a year after all, but after that day—after witnessing what would become Danny’s greatest secret, she was working harder than ever to gain that absolute trust.

He needed people he could trust, now more than ever. Now that he wasn’t even human anymore, things were scarier—Sam and Tucker had to help him get over his panic attacks when he thought about how his other form’s heart didn’t beat; had to help him breathe steadily when he scared himself whenever he looked in the mirror after transforming; had to calm him when his parents talked about destroying the ghosts like they were thoughtless monsters, and when he began to wonder what he was if not one one them. Danny needed people to trust because as Sam watched him flounder with his powers and anxiety in the first few months, she knew that he was hiding something more than the fear of being discovered.

Especially when, after he had found out he could turn human again, he had explained that he had always believed ghosts existed, so becoming one had frightened him.

And Sam got the feeling that seeing the glowing, white-haired, green-eyed boy in the mirror wasn’t Danny’s first time seeing a ghost.

~~~

 _I can’t believe Jazz and Lancer made this my punishment…_  Danny grumbled mentally as he slumped in his seat and crossed his arms. He glared at the new guidance counselor, Spectra, as she rambled on about helping him.

When he didn’t respond to anything she said, the redheaded lady bit her lip and commented, “Wow, your sister did say you were a bit anti-social, but this… no wonder she said you could be a bit of a baby.” She shrugged.

Danny sat up a little, frowning deeply.  _She what?_

Spectra hid a grin at seeing that she had gotten his attention. “Well, sweetie, it’s not my fault she thinks you’re a loser.” Danny’s eyebrows furrowed, and Spectra stood up and walked around the desk to him, continuing in her too-sweet chipper tone, “But those are her issues. I’m not saying you’re a loser, Danny. I think you’re a great kid!”

She put her hand on his shoulder comfortingly, and Danny sighed, slumping dejectedly.  _Then why do I feel so miserable?_

“You know what I think?” She leaned down to meet his the eyes, and he stared up at her vibrant green pupils despondently, “You might be a mess, but ‘mess’ is just the beginning of ‘message’! Now go out there and be a better you.”

 _What does that even mean?_  Danny sighed and nodded, getting up to leave.

“And next time you come… we can talk about that little mute problem of yours.” Spectra chirped, waving and shutting the door behind him with a too-hard  _slam_.

Spectra’s smile became sinister as she inhaled deeply, pulling out her compact to examine her face. Wrinkles faded from beneath her eyes, lips became fuller, and the slight glow in her eyes became a brighter toxic green.

Oh, she looked fabulous, thanks to that mute kid—she wondered what else she could pull out of him to keep her looking younger than a day at the spa.

Maybe if she could find out why he didn’t speak… after all, Jazz did say he used to be able to…

~~~

Danny had been miserable all week—screwing up, losing against that  _one freaking ghost_ , humiliated at school because Spectra had, for some reason, thought that it would be therapeutic for him to dress up as the Spirit Baby.

On the day of Jazz’s big Spirit Week speech, Danny and his friends had noticed how utterly miserable everyone else was too—and until Sam and Tucker made a comment about being the only ones to have not gone to see Spectra in the past week, Danny had no idea what was going on.

And then he realized why it had been so cold everyday for the past week—he had kept assuming it was the cold that was making his breath visible, but with some proof from Tucker, he began to raise his suspicions to his friends that Spectra might have been a ghost. And she was purposely making everyone miserable.

Sam and Tucker volunteered to go in as bait, and Spectra took it—Danny watched invisibly as she grew  _younger_ , and then he overheard her whispers to her assistant about a plan to make even more misery to keep themselves young forever… something about a speech and the “sparklers” going off with a bang…

And horror dawned in his eyes as he realized what that plan was.

_Jazz! I gotta save her!_

~~~

A blast sent Bertrand through the wall, and Spectra spun around in surprise. There was the ghost boy, hovering there looking absolutely livid.

“Can I help you?” Spectra narrowed her eyes at the ghost boy. So this was the infamous ghost boy that the escapees of the Ghost Zone were muttering about. She had never met him herself, but rumor had it that he had taken to haunting Amity Park in general, and that he might be the same species as a certain vampiric not-ghost. Taking that into account, Spectra had made sure she was undetectable, given that half-ghosts tended to have the ability to sense the chill that ghosts brought with them even before humans could.

She dodged as the ghost boy abruptly lunged. She smirked at him as he rounded on her, charging a weak ecto-blast in his palm.

“Ah, you figured me out, huh.” The red-haired woman chuckled, smirking evilly, “Well, I’ve figured you out too… Danny Fenton, isn’t it?”

Danny faltered, but then he narrowed his eyes and went for another attack. Spectra jumped out of the way and laughed, leaning one hand on her hip once she regained her balance. Bertrand came back up beside her, his stocky gray-haired human form morphing into a very familiar green blob.

 _That shapeshifter! I knew it!_  Danny gasped. He looked between the two warily, his stance spread wide for defense.

“You really don’t talk much, do you.” Bertrand sneered, “How much do you know?”

Danny snarled, a low, hoarse sound escaping his throat, sweeping his hand out in front of him angrily.  _“Everything!”_

“Really? You know all about us?” Spectra cackled, “That we’re evil ghosts here to feed on your misery? Yeah, you’re right.” Her grin split her face, “But sorry, sweetie, I fear you’ve missed a few details!”

Her eyes flashed red, and a purple ring of fire flared up around her, the smoke twisting and swirling with green and swallowing her in a torrent like a tornado, only to sweep away with a cold wind and reveal the shadowy form inside.

Danny’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, startled—but also completely shocked because  _he had seen that ghost before_.

The shadowy wisp smirked with fanged white teeth, red eyes narrowed in sadistic delight. “Oh, yes… I see you remember me quite well,” she purred, charging two ecto-blasts, one alight in each hand, “and I remember you. Little Danny Fenton, son of the ghost hunters who  _freed me_  from the ghost zone, all those years ago…”

Danny was frozen—he couldn’t move, he didn’t breathe, and fear seized his chest and crushed him. He couldn’t do anything as Spectra launched the ecto-blasts at him, laughing madly as he crashed through the wall, landing on the grass outside.

Dazed, he could only recall the first time he had seen her, his head spinning with the trauma of those memories.

_“Ah, ah, ah,” sneered the shadow ghost as it flew up close to him, its cold, putrid breath sending goosebumps all over the tiny boy’s small body. “Not a word out of you—don’t you dare scream, you little brat, or I’ll rip you apart.” It held up its clawed hand threateningly, grinning with shark-like teeth as the little black-haired boy trembled in fright._

Bertrand morphed into a wolf and lunged at Danny, his large, sharp-toothed maw wide open and his slimy tongue dripping saliva. His large paws held the ghost boy down, and the white-haired teenager gasped, subconsciously struggling against the weight.

 _The black ghost looked back at the small, glowing, prototypical portal it had flown out of, smirking. When its red eyes turned back to the small blue-eyed boy, it lifted his chin with one clawed finger and whispered, “No telling mommy and daddy I was here, hmm? If you breathe a word to anyone, I’ll come back and_  eat you up _.” A streak of blood was drawn when it pinched his cheeks mockingly, and the little boy started crying at the pain. It cackled as it pulled back, delighting in the child’s miserable tears, and then disappeared through the wall._

The terror of his childhood was evident in his eyes, and Bertrand laughed a snarling laugh. “You really thought you were going to stop us?  _You_? You’re just a frightened little kid!” He taunted, swiping at the boy, who gasped and finally snapped out of his daze, turning intangible and phasing through the tree he had been pinned against, just barely dodging.

He came up shaking his head furiously, trying to clear the memories away for the time being. Thinking quick, he dove in, landing a punch straight to Bertrand’s jaw and sending him flying.

Before he could make another move, however, Spectra grabbed him from behind, her sharp clawed fingers digging into his neck.

He struggled against her, clawing at her hands to get her to loosen her grip.  _Let go of me!_

“Hmm. Your doubt, your misery, it’s delicious. I could just  _eat you up_.” Spectra inhaled deeply, relishing the taste of the emotions coming off him. He froze again at the familiar words, and Spectra was delighted that they had the effect she wanted. She grinned maliciously and dragged him over to the nearby window, forcing him to look into the gymnasium, where his sister was giving her speech. The dominoes set up to activate the sparklers were already falling, and Danny could see a ray gun just off stage, ready to go off. “And the best part is, as soon as that silly speech is over, and that last domino falls and the sparklers vaporize the speaker, we’ll leave you here to take the blame. And by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be sure it was all your fault!”

Danny’s eyes widened in a different kind of horror now, and with a surge of determination, he threw the shadow ghost off.  _No! I’m tired of this—of you dumping on me, of me dumping on myself! Jazz never did, even when I was angry at her… so I won’t let her down! I won’t be afraid of you anymore!_

Spectra sensed the change of attitude, growling. “Uhg! Little brat!” She threw her hand out with a commanding, “Bertrand, sic him!”

Danny flew away quickly, pulling out his thermos and activating it without a second’s thought.  _I so don’t have time for this!_  He thought ferociously, smirking a little at Bertrand’s scream as he was sucked up.

Spectra gave an enraged cry, lunging at him again. She dodged when he tried to use the thermos on her too, her claws extended as she came in close. “You’re through!”

 _And you’re done telling me what to do!_  Danny glared with brightly glowing eyes, grabbing her by the spectral tail as he dodged. He used the momentum from her charge to spin around and throw her into the dumpster.

With Spectra temporarily out of commission, Danny phased through the wall and shot toward his sister without a moment to lose, tackling her through the back of the auditorium just as the laser destroyed the podium.

“What the—what?!” Jazz gasped, scrambling out of Danny’s grasp as he quickly let her go. She looked up at him once her feet were on the ground, her eyes wide. He stared back at her almost sheepishly, shuffling backwards shyly and awkwardly, not sure what to say to her, if anything at all.

Before either of them could do anything more, however, Spectra phased through the wall and grabbed Danny, dragging through the nearest exit.

“We’re not done yet!” She hissed, grabbing his head and twisting her long spectral tail around him to keep his arms restricted. He couldn’t reach his thermos this way, at the least, and she smirked triumphantly. “Little Danny Fenton… I’m going to destroy you and you won’t even scream!”

Danny gritted his teeth, his nostrils flaring as he breathed hard.  _No… no, I’ve kept silent long enough._

“No one’s going to notice if I do anything to you. You’ll just be one less ghost off the streets for your parents to deal with, hmm?” Spectra purred, “As for little, wimpy, loser Danny Fenton… oh, I don’t think anyone is going to notice a little less noise when you make none.”

Danny made a choked sound as Spectra wrapped her hands around his neck once more, a flash of fear crossing his expression.

“I wonder what happens to a half-ghost when they die?” Spectra chuckled, tightening her grip, whispering in a sickly sweet voice, “Look at you. What are you? A ghost trying to fit in with humans? Or some creepy little boy with creepy little powers?”

Danny struggled weakly, trying his best to wrench himself from the grasp of his captor. He tried to build up the energy in his body, glowing a faint green, but Spectra laughed and absorbed it—and Danny wilted, feeling drained by her touch alone. “You don’t belong to either world. Even the ghosts think you’re creepy! You’re a freak! Not a ghost, not a boy! Who cares for a thing like you?”

A slam of the door behind them caused Spectra to drop the ghostly teenager, and he fell to the ground, disoriented.

“Excuse me,” said a very familiar voice, and Danny found himself looking up in surprise, “I don’t know this kid, but I hope it’s okay if he gets a second opinion.”

 _Jazz?_  Danny stared at her in surprise as she held up a gun—no, it was one of his parents’ most recent inventions, the Ghost Peeler. She activated it, causing a gleaming silver armor to unfold and encase her.

She looked mildly surprised, commenting, “this is weird,” before she wasted no time in shooting Spectra with it while she was still caught off guard.

Spectra shrieked as the black peeled away into her human form, and then again into something older, and older, until there was nothing but a wrinkly, shriveled up husk. “Nooo! No, I’m nothing without my youth!”

Danny smirked a little, pulling the thermos from his person and aiming it at her, sucking her in while she was still screaming. Even as she disappeared into the glowing white depths, he could feel his strength returning to him, as if he had been suffocating in a room without oxygen and capturing Spectra had opened the window for fresh air to come in.

He capped off the thermos and looked back up at Jazz as he pushed himself to his feet, wobbly at best and too unsteady to float without turning right upside down. Jazz deactivated the Fenton Peeler, which honestly surprised him, and looked toward him in an appraising manner, as if searching for damage.

“…”

He stared back at her, completely nonplussed, tense in case she’d end up shooting him with the Peeler like his parents might have.

Then, as if she knew he wouldn’t say anything, she said, “Thanks for saving me, earlier.” He looked taken aback by her honestly genuine smile, and she continued, “Consider this payback.”

He nodded dumbly, unsure how to respond. No one had ever been nice to his ghost half before—why would anyone start now? Why would Jazz? She didn’t even believe ghosts existed up until a few days ago!

“…What’s your name?” Jazz asked curiously, and he flinched, because no one had asked him that either.

He clutched the thermos tightly in his hands as he parted his lips, a shaky, weak smile tugging at the corners as he whispered the first reply that came to mind.

“Ph… Phantom.”

He paused, because his hoarse voice didn’t surprise him but the echo in his voice did. He had never spoken in ghost form before, but he really shouldn’t have been surprised he had the same ethereal echo as the other ghosts.

Jazz seemed equally surprised, as if she hadn’t expected him to speak at all. Then she smiled widely and nodded. “Alright, thank you again, Phantom.” She turned back toward the exit she had come from, but paused and looked over her shoulder. “You better go.”

Danny nodded in return, turning invisible and intangible, and a gust of phantom wind was the only signal that he had flown off.

She closed the door behind her, murmuring to herself, “He can tell me when he’s ready.”

Smiling softly, she headed back to the gymnasium.

~~~

After things with Spectra settled down at the school, Danny finally found some time to explain to his friends what exactly happened in the fight with Spectra and Bertrand.

 _"And… that’s about it,”_  Danny put his hands down, fiddling with his fingers in his lap,  _“Well, except…”_

“Except?” Sam frowned in concern.

Danny sighed, looking up at his friends, his clear blue eyes becoming steady with theirs.  _“Spectra knew who I was… no, I don’t mean as the ghost boy,”_  Danny signed quickly at his friends’ alarmed faces,  _“Though she did know that too, I meant that she knew Danny_ Fenton _.”_

He emphasized his real name by repeating the sign, and then hesitatingly continued,  _“She’s the ghost I met when I was younger.”_

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other. Sam frowned, wondering if her suspicions were correct. “What ghost? I mean… you never told us about this…”

 _“I never told anyone,”_  Danny shrugged listlessly, holding up his hands to sign his explanation, but then he looked thoughtful and they fell limply into his lap.

“Danny?” Tucker lifted an eyebrow.

Danny took a deep breath, keeping his eyes level and trying not to shake as he recalled the still traumatic events.

“When I was eight years old, my parents rebuilt their prototype Ghost Portal from college.” He said softly, and Sam gasped at hearing his voice for the first time in something that wasn’t a reflexive grunt or the scream that haunted her dreams. It was beautiful, if not broken from disuse, and there were the beginnings of puberty highlighting it, the quiet sound cracking just between pre-teen high and tenor deep. “Spectra was the one who came through it.”

Tucker’s eyes were wide, but he kept his gaze still and locked on Danny’s, and Danny stared right back, finding the familiar teal of his friend’s eyes comforting. “My parents weren’t home, and I had gone down to find Jazz, and then I saw her…”

“She hurt you,” Tucker stated factually, remembering the day Danny stopped talking—he had come to school with a large bandage on his face, and no one could get him to talk about how he got that particular scrape. His parents didn’t seem to know either—his father had blamed it on ghosts, as usual. It seems he wasn’t far off, that time.

Danny nodded. “She threatened to come back and eat me, if I ever spoke another word.”

“So you didn’t,” Sam breathed as understanding fully reached her, “Oh, Danny…”

“So now that you’ve beat her, what happens next?” Tucker asked carefully, “You gonna keep staying as silent as the dead?”

Danny made a chortling sound, rolling his eyes at the pun.  _Leave it up to Tucker to always lighten up the mood._

He took a deep breath before answering again, his voice shaking as it began to hurt a bit after using it so much. “I’m still afraid,” he admitted, “and ghosts in general still scare me… but I’m getting better, and I’m still going to fight.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I… I’ve been silent so long, I think I’m used to it.”

“Hey man, whatever you choose to do, we’re with you all the way.” Tucker patted his arm comfortingly.

“Yeah, this kind of thing… it takes time to heal,” Sam nodded sympathetically.

 _“Thanks, guys,”_  Danny smiled, wrapping his arms around them both and giving them a quick hug.

They hugged him back, and when they pulled apart, a shiver ran down Danny’s spine and a silver-blue mist passed his vision. All three of them looked into the sky, and Danny grinned at his friends as he stepped behind a tree and transformed.

He flew out, pausing before he was out of their range of sight.  _“By the way, guys!”_  He signed,  _“I came up with a name for my alter-ego!”_

“Oh yeah?” Sam crossed her arms, “It better not be punny!”

Danny made a soundless, wheezing laugh, grinning down at them. “It’s Phantom!” He said with a salute, his voice stronger in ghost form, if not still a bit quiet. The echo probably helped increase his volume, though.

“Phantom… Danny Phantom?” Tucker laughed, “You’re so lame, man! Whatever, go kick ghost butt!”

Danny grinned, flying off in a black and white blur.

Danny Phantom… he liked the sound of that, really. It was a name from both his human side and something from his ghost side. He was a half-ghost, and maybe he didn’t fit into either world perfectly… but he didn’t need to, because all he needed were the people he wanted to protect.

However silently he did so.


End file.
